Word: offsets
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Sniping at Los Angeles for its smog, sprawl and gridlocked freeways is a time-honored pastime in the West. Traditionally, the gibing has been mixed with an abiding envy of the California megalopolis' trend-setting dynamism. But lately no amount of envy -- or imitation -- seems enough to offset the vitriol that is being aimed at L.A. from every direction. Los Angeles has become the butt of abject opprobrium -- the "villain" of the West...
...racial inequity in the plot. When racial issues are discussed, it is mainly through allusion and not direct depiction. For example, when the Black and White church choruses interchange lines in the very effective opening and closing scenes, the White chorus' line, "Love those who cheat you," is offset by the Black chorus' "Love those who beat you," in an interplay that evokes the extreme unfairness of the society...
...there is a trend toward consolidation of the central authority, but it is being offset by the growing self-assertiveness of the republics. Yes, there is pressure from the bureaucracy to keep major aspects of the centrally planned economy intact, but there is also a growing demand, from different regions and industries, for economic independence. Yes, some parts of the Soviet media are now almost as conformist as they were in the old days, but plenty of other newspapers and magazines continue to express the most unorthodox views. Yes, there have been attempts to maintain order by repressive means...
...budget presented last week by Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont -- inevitably dubbed Stormin' Norman by the press -- calls for an immediate cut in the poll tax of $250 a person, an average of 36%. That is to be offset by an increase in the value-added tax, a kind of super sales tax, from 15% to 17.5%. Environment Secretary Michael Heseltine later announced that the poll tax would be scrapped entirely by 1993, but talked only vaguely about what might replace...
...Committee chairman Dan Rostenkowski argues that "the last thing we should be doing is cutting taxes." Speaker Tom Foley remains on the fence. Senate majority leader George Mitchell, initially cool to the Moynihan plan, now supports it "in concept," and has suggested raising the cap as a way to offset any revenue loss...